Kurt Schwitters (1887-1948)

Kurt Schwitters met Stefan and Franciszka Themerson in Jankel Adler's studio in London in 1944. Themerson, a Polish-born film-maker and author, had just settled in London with his wife having fled, like Schwitters, from Nazi-occupied Europe. The two men became close friends and that year Schwitters painted a portrait of Themerson (Orchard & Schulz no. 3076; Sprengel Museum, Hannover). After founding the Gaberbocchus Press, Themerson published a book on the artist in 1958, Kurt Schwitters in England 1940-1948, a copy of which accompanies this work.